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Possible 2016 GOP presidential aspirant Mike Huckabee said in a speech Thursday that Republicans should fight harder to win women's votes. In particular, Huckabee said his party should stress that it doesn鈥檛 believe women are 鈥渉elpless and hopeless creatures鈥� whose only desire is for government-provided birth control.

The former Arkansas governor added that many of the women he knows are intelligent and educated and capable of doing anything a man can do. Then he delivered a shot at Democrats which is lighting up social media like fireworks on July 4th.

Here鈥檚 the full quote: 鈥淎nd if the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it, let鈥檚 take that discussion all across America, because women are far more than Democrats have made them out to be.鈥�

Many on the left took umbrage at the charge that Democrats tell women they should be dependent on big government because they can鈥檛 control their urges.

鈥淚t sounds offensive to me, and to women,鈥� said White House spokesman Jay Carney when asked about the remarks, which Huckabee made during a luncheon appearance at the Republican National Committee鈥檚 winter meeting.

Others grated at the 鈥淯ncle Sugar鈥� reference, noting that in the past Huckabee has used that formulation to refer to President Obama. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 鈥楶resident Sugar鈥� to you,鈥� tweeted one respondent.

Republicans, for their part, said Huckabee was just responding in kind to the Democrat鈥檚 charge that the GOP wages a 鈥渨ar on women.鈥� The right-leaning National Review noted that a number of mainstream media figures initially mischaracterized Huckabee鈥檚 remarks, reporting that Huckabee himself believes women can鈥檛 control their libidos.

Mike Huckabee ran for the GOP presidential nomination in 2008 and finished second in the delegate count behind Sen. John McCain. He was a favorite of evangelicals because of his combination of a folksy demeanor and conservative positions on abortion and other hot-button social issues.

Since then he鈥檚 made a living as a radio and TV talk show host. But he ended his show late last year, and has begun to hint that he may run again in 2016.

In fact, meeting with reporters prior to his Thursday RNC remarks, Huckabee sounded more than ever like he鈥檚 going to run.

鈥淭he encouragement has been much stronger than I anticipated,鈥� he said, in reference to 2016.

If so, he may have to learn to dial it back. As Slate鈥檚 Dave Weigel points out, Huckabee has used the 鈥渓ibido鈥� reference at least once before 鈥� during his Fox News show last Sunday, in fact.

鈥淔or Democrats to reduce women to beggars for cheap government funded birth control is demeaning to the women that I know who are far more complicated than their libido,鈥� said Huckabee then.

As Weigel notes, that鈥檚 a crowd pleaser 鈥� for a select audience. If Huckabee really is going to run he may need to sort out the rhetoric he reserves for true believers from what he uses in forums where he鈥檚 likely to attract broader attention.

Because if nothing else, he鈥檚 created an excuse for Democrats to bring up past instances when he said things about women that some found insulting. For instance, in 2012 Huckabee wrote on his Facebook page that men may be better than women at multi-tasking due to the latter鈥檚 hormonal ups-and-downs.

That may not help the GOP in its effort to close its gender gap with Democrats.

As Steve Benen, a producer for the left-leaning Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, tweeted, "Huckabee helps prove one thing: GOP training on how to talk about women really isn't going well."